Ledge david . Te Act of Rebion . London + Penguin Bocks,|952 Ch. 34 the Unreliable Nasrotor pp. IF 4-457 34 The Unreliable Narrator from Mrs Johnson, «companion of my aunt. She sys my sunt died the day before yesterday” She paused « moment, then said “The funeral iso tke place tomorrow. I wonder iit ‘might be potible forme wo take the day ofl” tm are that could be arrange Miss Keston” “Taal you, Me Steven. Forpve me, but perhage Imay now hye few moments alone.” “OF course Mise Keston” made my exit and it was no unl after Thad dane so that it occurred to me Thad nt actually offered her my endelences. 1 IT vere to dos might easly intrude upon hee private (re. Inded, it was not impossible that Miss Kenton, at that ‘ery momen, and only afer feet rom me, was actully ring ‘The though provoked a strange feeling to rise within me, ‘causing te (0 stand there hovering in the corridor for some ‘moments But eventually I judged it best to avait another ‘oppor to express my sympathy and went on my way. ea tH The Reman of te Dy (198) Unmeunate Nameaross are invariably invented characters who: are partofthe tres they tll An unreliable “omiscent” narator Js almost 1 contradiction in terms, and could only occur ina very evan, eqperimental text. yen a character-naretor cannot be 3 hundred ger cen uneeliale I everything eo she ss palpably 154fas, that oly ls us what we know already, namely that x novel ‘6 work af eon There must be some possibilty of diseminat- ing beeen th and falsehood win the imagined worl of the novel, a her is inthe eel wold, forthe story to engage oUF "The point of sing an unreliable marae is indeed t reveal in an interesting way the gap between appearance and rely and © ‘show how human beings distort or conceal the later. This need ot be a conscious, or mischievous, intention on thet par. The ‘arator of Kam shires novel is nt an ell man, ba is fe ‘hasbeen based onthe suppression and evasion ofthe uth, about ‘mse and abet ochers. His marae is kindof conesin, but 'S riddled wih devious selfjustfcaton and special padi, land only a the very end does he ave at an understanding of nse too lew peat by i “The fame-sary set 1956. The narator i Stevens, the ageing ber ofan English stately home, once the seat of Lord Darlington, now the property afa ich American, Encouraged by his new employer, Stevens takes a shore holiday in the West ‘Counay. His pvate motive i to make contact with Miss Kenton, ‘housekeeper at Datington Hall in great dye between the Wars, ‘when Lord Datington hosted unofical gatherings of high-aniog policians w dseuss the cris in Europe. Stevens haps. 10 persuade Miss Kenton (he coninis to refer to he thus, hough Shes mared) 9 come out of rerement and help solve 2 afin ‘iia Daringon Hall As he travel he recalls the pas. ‘Stevens spas, of writes, in asl precise, sly forml syle ~ butlerspes, a 2 word. Viewed objectively, the se bas no Iterary merit whatsoever. Its completly lacking is wi, ersuous- ness and origaiy. Ii ffectieness asa medium for this novel resides precise in our growing perception ofits inadequacy for wha it eseibes. Gradually we infer that Lord Datingtn was 2 bungling amatesr diplomat who belived in appessing Hiter and five support © fascism and andsemism. Stevens has never mined to hinself or to others that his employer was totaly screed by sabsequent historical event, and takes pride i the impeccable serie he rendered his weak and unamihle mater. 55‘TME UNRELIABLE NARRATOR ‘The same mystique of the perfect serant rendre him Incapable of recognizing and responding (0 the love tht Mis Kenton wat realy to offer him when they worked tether But dim, hemi censored memory of his treatment of her gradually surfaces in the course of his arative ~ and we realize tha xis real_ motive fr seeking her ot agin isa vain hope of undoing the past. ‘Stevens repeely gies a favourable account of himself which turns outro be awed or deceptive. Having delivered w Mis Kenton alter reporting the death of her aunt, he rakes tha he has not *aculy” offered his condolences. His hesitate about “whether to retim almost distract ws fom hi extrtordinary crass omission of any expression of regret inthe preceding dialogs His set nat tn hire on her grt wreme ta eapesk 4 sna personaly, Duta facta son 3 he Binds another “oppor 0 Express my sympathy”, he does no sich thing, but instead rather Splefly etches her superdsion of two new maidsrvan “Typically, he fas no word more expressive than “strange” forthe fecling he expeiences atthe thought that Mis Kenton might be ‘yng onthe oer side ofthe door. We maybe surprised that he ‘Should suspect e of doing so, just afer nosing with appl her ‘calm reception ofthe news Infact mary pages ater he aes that ‘hehas tached this memory to the wrong episode: 1 am not tal cenain now ato the actual crcustaces veh Id el me tobe standing tha inthe back conor. Teer ‘me dat chewkere in aterptng to gater such reales ‘may well Re swered that this memory dered fom the ‘nets ined ater Mis Kenton’ recing news of her sunt death. But now, having though fer, elie may hve been sie confoced shout th ater ht in fac hs {agent of emory derives fom events that took pice co an ‘ening a let 2 few month afer the death of Mins Kemon's ‘Te was an evering, in fact, when he humiliated her by coldly ‘ejecting her tin bat unambiguous offer of love ~ tht was why she was crying behind the closed door. But Stevens characters cally associates the occasion not with this private, inmate epeode, 156but wih one of Lord Dartington's most momentous conferences ‘The themes of pli bad uth and emotional seit are subty leterwoven nthe sd try of Stevens's wasted ie 1 ineresing 10 compare and const Ishigueo's novel wit nother virtuoso atin the use ofan unelablenareato~ Vadim [abokov’s Pale Fire. This nove takes the unusual form of 2 poem by a fetus American poet called John Shade, with 3 ‘exiled commentary ypon by an émigré European scolar, ‘Shade's neighbour, called Charles Kinbote. The poem is an sutcbiographical work centering on the wagic suicide ofthe poets “laughter Shade himself we gather, had ust been murdered when ‘the manuscript ofthe poem came iato Kinbot's ands. We socn ‘eale that Kinboe i ad, ble himself o be the exe keg ‘of tome Runnin country resembling pre-Revoluionary Russ “He has convinced himself tht Shade was wring a poem about Ms ‘omm histor, ahd that he war sho in error By am asain Sent ‘murder Kinbote himsel. The purpose of his commentary i > ‘sablsh Kinbot’s bie interpretation of the facts. One of te pleasures of reading iti to dice, by reference othe “relble™ parative of Shad’ poem, the degree of Kinbe’'ssl- deus, Gorpared with The Remains of the Day, Pale Fie is exaberanty comic athe expense ofthe unreliable naruto. Yr the elec is ‘ot woul reducee. Kine’ evratio af his beloved Kingdon, Zemba,is vd, enchanting and haunting. Nabokov has investd his character wih Some of his own eloquence, and much of Bs ‘mn exiles poignit nostalgia Ishiguro’ novel in contrast ace the liniadons of naraor quite without eloquene. If he hud been reliable, the effet woul, of couse, have been ineredibiy borog 17